To stay up to date with the Texas Master Naturalist Annual Meeting, learn about registration details as they are posted, and be the first to see the meeting’s agenda, join the TMN Listserv. The TMN Listserv acts as the main communication tool for the Master Naturalist Program. Event details, local training opportunities and statewide announcements are frequently sent out on this email list. Details on how to join the TMN Listserv can be found here: Texas Master Naturalist Listserv.

Annual Meeting Agenda

Sponsors for the 17th Annual Meeting

Once again this year, we are seeking sponsorships for the 17th Annual Meeting. In addition to general meeting sponsorships we are also seeking sponsorships for specific events on the agenda such as coffee breaks, awards, evening socials and more. These events allow our meeting to continue to provide participants networking opportunities, team building meetings, recognition for the great work they are doing and a healthy environment for productive educational seminars. All sponsorships will receive special recognition through conference communication, fliers, announcements and programs.

For more information, contact Mary Pearl Meuth at mpmeuth@tamu.edu or (979)-845-7294.

Current 2016 Sponsors:

Longleaf Pine

Audubon Texas

Seedling

Texas Wildlife Association

Texas A&M Institute of Renewable Natural Resources

The Nature Conservancy – Texas

(as of May 24)

Vendor Opportunity

With our larger than ever meeting space at La Torretta, we are looking to open up a few key spots for naturalist and conservation related vendors. The vendor booths will be located in the main foyer of the convention area of La Torretta. They will be limited to those vendors providing educational materials, selling naturalist related goods and/or artwork, or partnership programming opportunities for our Texas Master Naturalists. Vendors will receive one 6’ table and two chairs. Electricity and other display items can be discussed if needed.

Vendor set up will be on Friday, October 21st from 10am to 12:00 noon with take down and move out on Sunday, October 23rd starting at 10am. There will be ample time throughout the conference for attendees to browse the vendor areas, with breaks and socials scheduled to be held in the vendor space. We kindly ask that all vendors donate an item for the Silent Auction if possible. The money raised from the silent auction will be used to pay for scholarships for Master Naturalists from each chapter to be able to attend our conference the following year. Vendors will also receive special recognition through the conference programs at time of press. Vendors space is provided with a $200 fee. More information and the application can be found on the Vendor Application.

For more information, contact Mary Pearl Meuth at mpmeuth@tamu.edu or (979)-845-7294.

Texas Waters Day 2016

Please join us for the inaugural Texas Waters Day, Friday October 21st, 2016 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM!
Texas Waters Day will launch the new curriculum produced by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Texas Waters: Exploring Texas Water and Watersheds and the new Texas Waters Specialist certification program. Through this program, we want to develop a corps of well-informed volunteer specialists who provide education, outreach, and service dedicated to the beneficial management of aquatic resources and aquatic habitats within their communities for the State of Texas. Texas Waters Specialists will be fundamental in informing the public of conservation issues specifically related to the need for fishable, swimmable and drinkable waterways for our state.

Texas Waters Day participants will receive printed copies of the new curriculum Texas Waters: Exploring Texas Water and Watersheds, presentations by recognized experts in the field of Texas water and watersheds, enjoy lunch networking with these professionals’ discussions potential volunteer project opportunities, and can earn up to four Advance Training hours.

Registration for the Texas Water and Watersheds Day is $35 per person, and lunch will be provided for the attendees. A final agenda will be emailed to all registrants as the meeting approaches. If there are any questions about the Texas Waters Specialist certification program, the Texas Waters: Exploring Texas Water and Watersheds curriculum of the Texas Waters Day 2016 program, please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions page: FAQs Texas Waters Specialist Training or email Johnnie Smith, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department – Johnnie.smith@tpwd.texas.gov

Frequently Asked Questions

You can find some of the frequently asked questions about the 17th Annual Meeting at the link below:

Call for Proposals

Call for Proposals for the Texas Master Naturalist 17th Annual Meeting is now closed.

Annual Meeting Project Fair

The Texas Master Naturalist Program holds this competition during our Annual Meeting each year to share and award the premier projects of the TMN Program. Members continually list this method as a favorite way to learn about projects other chapters are doing and how they may be able to replicate such projects in their areas.

Chapters entering a display into the contest will need to provide a short paragraph describing the project no later than Friday, October 7th, 2016 to Michelle Haggerty at: mmhaggerty@tamu.edu

Awards this year are being supported by a generous grant from the Wildlife Diversity Program of Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. Awards will be in the form of a certificate and monetary project grants to the winning chapters which are intended to further support the winning projects or new project implementations of the chapters’ choice.

Silent Auction

The Heartwood Chapter will be hosting the 17th Annual Meeting’s Silent Auction. As they begin to develop their requests for donations, be thinking of items that your local chapter or local partnership organizations can bring to support this year’s Silent Auction. If you have questions, contact Mary Pearl Meuth, mpmeuth@tamu.edu.

We are just a couple of months away from the Texas Master Naturalist (TMN) Annual Meeting at La Torretta on Lake Conroe. The meeting will be here before you know it! Thus, it is time to prepare for getting donated items for the Silent Auction. Money raised by the Silent Auction is used for TMN project grants, scholarships to the Annual Meeting, and to bring in speakers and trainers for future annual meetings.

We are asking each TMN chapter to donate a minimum of $100 in items or cash to the auction. There are many types of items that are appropriate for the silent auction. Cash will be used to purchase great items at below market prices and/or to package items attractively. Below are some ideas from previous years.

Travel packages, vouchers and gift certificates for trips, tours, experiences, hotels and sights. These always stimulate heavy bidding and high bids. Anyone have a week at a time share they’d like to donate J ?

Theme baskets and grouped items. These may represent your region and members may join together to complete these. Some theme ideas include coastal, birding, outdoorsy, décor items, kitchen, cooking, regional cuisine, etc.

Use your imagination and keep naturalist themes in mind. If it’s something you would like to have, someone else probably would too! Items or groups of items in new condition with a value of at least $25 may be donated.

Items should be brought to the Annual Meeting on Friday, October 21, if possible but will also be accepted Saturday morning. Each item should have a Silent Auction Bid Sheet with it, filled out in advance , identifying the item(s), the donor, estimated value and suggested minimum bid. Silent Auction Bid Sheets will also be available at the Annual Meeting.

The Heartwood Chapter is the local host chapter for the meeting. Julie Vickers and Ann Meador of the Heartwood Chapter are co-chairs for the Silent Auction. Please let us know in advance what you plan to contribute so we can plan the space accordingly. Contact us if you have any questions about the Silent Auction or need to ship items.

Please consider contributing to this event. It’s a great way to support the TMN mission. We look forward to seeing you at La Torretta!

3rd Annual Video Contest (Deadline Extended)

Spring has filled the outdoors with new life and activities. Take advantage of this time to Create a New Video, highlighting a(n)

Experience as a Trainee

Experience as a Master Naturalist, or

Chapter Project.

You can either upload the video to YouTube or send an .mp4 or YouTube ready video file to mmhaggerty@tamu.edu

The deadline HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30th. The top three videos will be announced and receive an award at the 17th Annual Meeting.

Set your length goal for 1 minute, 30 seconds to 3 minutes max. The videos will be posted on the Texas Master Naturalist Playlist on YouTube. See samples of last year’s winners at: TMN 2015 Video Contest Submissions including First Place winner by the North Texas Chapter.

The Photo & Art Contest Chair for the 2016 Annual Meeting is Jerrel Geisler from the Gulf Coast Chapter.

The Photo & Art contest at the Annual Meeting has seven categories. If no one from your chapter will be attending the Annual Meeting, yet you would like to still enter a chapter item into the popular vote contests, please send the chapter item to Michelle Haggerty at 309 Sydney Baker South, Kerrville, TX 78028.

Entries must be submitted by 9:00 PMon Friday, October 21st (the opening day of the Annual Meeting) in the Americas Ballroom at La Torretta. The entries must be labeled with the owners name, chapter, cell phone number, category and title of the work.

all entries must be the original work of and submitted by a Master Naturalist volunteer.

Photos must be Texas-specific (i.e. taken in Texas).

Entries are limited to one per category per individual.

Photographs should be 8×10 and mounted on a stiff backing for display purposes.

The photos must be unmatted, unframed and have no digital enhancements.

The scrapbooks, chapter newsletters and chapter brochures each compete in separate categories.

Judging may be done by: (1) by a panel of judges where available and (2) popular vote of the attendees. Awards may be given for both judging types. Ballots for the popular vote are found in your registration welcome packed upon Annual Meeting check-in. Winners will be announced during the Awards Ceremony on Sunday morning. if there are less than five entries in a given photo or art category, a placement ribbon may not be awarded.

2016 Chapter Advisor Award (Deadline Extended)

The Texas Master Naturalist Program presents the Chapter Advisor Award to outstanding advisors and/or teams of advisors each year. the goal of the awards program is to encourage and recognize exceptional work and support of local Texas Master Naturalist Chapter advisors. The Chapter Advisor Team category was established to recognize the exceptional support of TMN chapter advisors working in partnership to support a chapter, just as the TMN program is supported by a partnership between Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service at the statewide level.

The winners will receive, at minimum, a plaque at the Annual Meeting awards ceremony detailing their accomplishments. Chapters are invited to nominate the advisor(s) for the award(s) by completing the TMN Chapter Advisor Award Application. In addition to the application, all other nomination information (a description of their nominee’s activity in each area described on the application) must fit on a total of 2 pages, and an electronic file of at least one picture of the nominee(s) must be included. Applications, nomination information, and picture(s) should be submitted electronically to Michelle Haggerty at mmhaggerty@tamu.edu by September 30th.

More information about the Award and nomination process can be found on the first page of the application, linked above.

Commuter Options

If you wish to stay off-site while attending the Texas Master Naturalist 17th Annual Meeting, there are a variety of options within a short commuting range to consider. A few of these options can be found on the TMN 17th Annual Meeting Commuter Options.

Information from the 2015 Annual Meeting can be found in the Past Meetings Archives, linked below.